Love is Gifted His First Tour Win
Steve Jones hits tee shot O.B. at 72nd hole to hand title to Davis Love III
What a historic week in Augusta where Rory McIlroy completed the career grand slam with a sudden-death playoff victory over Justin Rose. There were so many up and down moments in the final 18 holes, and tension on the back nine as McIlroy hit a loose wedge approach into the water at the 13th hole. Scroll down for my take on the week (I was there!), and some fun things in the Clips I Love feature.
We’re tuning the dial on the Tour Backspin wayback machine to 1987 and the MCI Heritage Golf Classic where Davis Love III captured his first PGA TOUR title in a surprising, especially to him, way. Scroll down to join us on our journey through the past.
PAST TOUR BACKSPIN ARTICLES ON THE HERITAGE
Johnny Miller ignores naked spectators to win the 1974 Sea Pines Heritage Classic.
Fuzzy Zoeller wins his second Sea Pines Heritage Classic in 1986.
Enjoy the golf this week from Hilton Head.
There were a few points in the action on Sunday when it looked like Rory McIlroy was going to let another major slip from his grasp. When did you think that he had lost it? Let us know in this week’s The Tour Backspin Poll. We’ve got The Grateful Dead performing “I Will Survive” live in this week’s Music Clip. It has a definite bootleg feel to it. Check out the “jorts” that Bob Weir is wearing and feel the vibe as the pot smoke swirls by. Scroll down to watch. We have the theatrical trailer for the 1987 film, “Broadcast News” starring Holly Hunter, William Hurt, and Albert Brooks in the Tour Backspin Goes To The Movies. You could have ordered the highlight film of the 1987 and 1986 Masters in this week’s Vintage Ad from 1987. Scroll down to view.
The latest episode of The Tour Backspin Show has dropped. Host Larry Baush (me!) talks with Bruce Devlin and Mike Gonzalez about their podcast Fore The Good Of The Game. It’s a video podcast and is available on Substack and YouTube. Please subscribe to The Tour Backspin Show on YouTube and help us reach the threshold of subscribers needed to qualify for revenue.
The Tour Backspin Poll
In last week’s Tour Backspin Poll we asked if you had ever been to the Masters. There were 60% of respondents who have been there during a tournament round, 30% who were there for a practice round, as I was this year, and 10% who have not had a chance to attend and replied “you’re killing me Smails.”
There were a couple of times that it looked like there was no way that Rory McIlroy was going to win the Masters. Which one made you feel that way? Let us know in this week’s Tour Backspin Poll.
We’re playing RBC Heritage trivia in this week’s Tour Backspin Quiz. Scroll down to take the challenge.
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Larry Baush
Steve Jones Hands Title To Davis Love III
The Wednesday before the start of the 1987 MCI Heritage Classic was a particularly busy one. There was both the pre-tournament pro-am at the Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, and the first Haig Point Pro Invitational across Calibogue Sound at Haig Point Golf Club. And this was after the Merrill Lynch Shootout on Tuesday, won by Ray Floyd in a playoff against Bernhard Langer.
That was a lot of golf for the week following the Masters, usually a laid-back week where players could wind down from the high tension of Augusta. Everyone was still talking about the Masters, won by Larry Mize, an Augusta native, who pulled a rabbit out of his hat by chipping in on the 11th hole, the second hole of his playoff against Greg Norman, to win the green jacket.
Bill Sander broke the course record at Haig Point shooting a 68 to win the Pro Invitational, while Mike Hulbert and Clarence Rose shared low pro honors in the pro-am with scores of 66. The team headed by Davis Love III won the team portion of the pro-am with a 21-under score of 51. They won by four strokes.
The condition of the Harbour Town Golf Links course, that measured 6,657 yards and played to a par-71, met with approval from the touring pros. Over the last two months, there was $300,000 infused into the maintenance and improvements of the course.
“I was relaxed and putting well and just didn’t feel like anything was going to go wrong.”
Pre-tournament favorites included Norman, who avoided the press so as not to have to address endless questions about the playoff at Augusta, Bernhard Langer who was a contender at Augusta before fading on Sunday, Ray Floyd, Chip Beck who finished second at Harbour Town in 1980, and Hale Irwin.
The first round on Thursday was played under intermittent rain showers and gusty winds but it was not a deterrence to the attack on par that was on display. There were 39 players who bettered par and Mark Hayes, a veteran of the PGA TOUR, came within a stroke of the course record set by Jack Nicklaus in 1975 and equaled by Denis Watson in 1984. The 64 shot by Hayes was the just the second time that score was shot at Harbour Town, joining Scott Simpson’s in 1980.
Hayes broke the front nine record of 31, set by Jack Nicklaus and matched by eight players since, with a 30 that included birdies on the first three holes.
“They were solid birdies,” Hayes told reporters including Terry Bunton, the sports editor of the local The Island Packet. “I was relaxed and putting well and just didn’t feel like anything was going to go wrong.”
He added birdies at the 6th, 7th, and 9th holes, all with putts in the 15-foot range. His only bogey came at the 13th hole, but he bounced back with birdies at the 15th and 16th holes.
“I think they’ll shoot it up this afternoon . . . unless the wind blows hard.”
Bernhard Langer, the 1985 Heritage champion, Howard Twitty, Mark Calcavecchia, Scott Hoch, and John Cook were all two shots behind Hayes at 66. David Frost and Steve Jones, who got into the field when Tony Sills withdrew, and had only one practice round, were at 67. Davis Love III, playing in the first group off at 7:30, was down the leaderboard at 70, going 32-38.
Mark Hayes played in the second group off on Friday morning and posted a 36-hole total for the rest of the field to shoot for when he added a 68 to his first round 64. He was pretty sure that he would be dislodged from the top of the leaderboard before the day was through.
“I think they’ll shoot it up this afternoon . . . unless the wind blows hard,” Hayes predicted to reporters including Harold Martin, sportswriter for The State out of Columbia, SC.
“I played real well, a little better today than yesterday.”
While many tried, all failed to catch Hayes. Jeff Sluman posted the round of the day, a 65, but a first-round 75 put him at 140, eight shots behind Hayes. Three players recorded 66s, including Steve Jones who was just one shot off the lead at 133.
Howard Twitty, with a second-round 69, and Scott Hoch, also with a 69, were at 135. Gene Sauers and Mark Wiebe both had rounds of 69-67, while Nick Faldo (70-67), Raymond Floyd (69-68), Davis Love III (70-67), John Cook (66-71), and Bernhard Langer (66-71) were at 137.
Jones parred the first eight holes before he birdied six of his last 10 holes to leap up the leaderboard.
“I played real well, a little better today than yesterday,” Jones said after his round. “I tried to stay patient and then I made the birdie at No. 9 and that got me rolling.”
“I putted very solid all day,” said Hayes who was surprised to be in the field after withdrawing the week before the Masters at Greensboro due to an out-of-place rib (see this week’s Bonus Story).
Larry Mize, the new Masters champion, failed to make the cut.
“I kept my cool. I’m right where I want to be.”
Bob Green of the Associated Press described the disappointment of a large hometown gallery made up of family and friends for local hero Gene Sauers’ final hole birdie. That’s because his 5-iron second shot into the green finished one revolution short of going in the hole for his second eagle of the day. Sauers tapped in for a 64 that was good for a tie at the top of the leaderboard with Jones who added a third round 67. Mark Hayes, with a 70, was tied with Scott Hoch who had a third-round 67. Davis Love III was another two shots back at 204 after shooting a 67.
Rain delayed the third round twice for a total of just over an hour due to a series of electrical storms that swept over the resort. Play was completed in the nick of time, just moments before darkness descended.
Sauers round included seven birdies—four in a row at one stretch—an eagle, and two bogeys.
“I just wanted to be in position to win,” Sauers told reporters including Green. “I didn’t want it to get away from me. I kept my cool. I’m right where I want to be.”
With seven players within five strokes of the lead, it was setting up for an exciting Sunday at Harbour Town.
The final round Sunday was played under sunny skies and mild temperatures. Gene Sauers and Steve Jones were in the final group, Mark Hayes and Scott Hoch made up the penultimate group while Davis Love III and Hale Irwin played in the third-to-last pairing.
“I said to myself: don’t let this back nine get you again.”
Love was looking for his first career tournament win after earning his player’s card at the 1985 PGA TOUR Qualifying School.
Love’s play in the first three rounds over the front and back nines was a ying and yang affair. He toured the front nine in the first three rounds in 13-under par while he could do no better than five-over on the back nine. A bogey on the 10th hole in the final round just made Love angry, and he turned that anger in a resolution to not fade on the back nine.
“I got so mad after 10,” he admitted to reporters later. “I hit a perfect 1-iron off the tee and missed the green with a 7-iron. You just shouldn’t miss greens with a 7-iron. Then I missed an easy putt for par. I said to myself: don’t let this back nine get you again.”
He rallied with a birdie at the 11th hole that gave him the spark he needed.
“After I birdied at 11, I felt I had a chance to win if I could just keep getting rolls at it,” he told reporters.
He followed with another birdie on the 12th hole after another great wedge approach shot. He then hit a 6-iron approach close at the 14th setting up another birdie and then hit wedge to six feet at the 16th hole resulting in another birdie.
None of the other leaders were making much of a move although Sauers either led or was tied for the lead until the 13th hole where he bogeyed while Jones made a birdie. The top of the leaderboard was crowded at this point with six players within three strokes of the lead, but it was only Love who was applying pressure.
Jones had pulled into a tie for the lead at the 2nd hole, with Sauers, but then made a bogey at the 3rd hole, and a double bogey at the 6th hole after a chunked 3-iron out of the rough. He birdied the 9th hole and 10th holes. His birdie at the 13th hole, while Sauers was making bogey, gave Jones the lead which he stretched to two shots with another birdie at the 15th hole.
Love made par at both the 17th and 18th holes and made his way to the scorer’s tent and began to check his scores in preparation for signing his card. Jones and Sauers were on the 18th tee, with Jones still maintaining a two-shot lead. A par would be enough to win the event, a bogey would get him into a playoff with Love. The 18th hole at Harbour Town features one of the widest fairways on the PGA TOUR which made what happened next particularly unexpected. Jones was perplexed with the wind and vacillated between hitting driver or 3-wood.
“The wind totally quit, and I let up on it. I knew it was gone.”
“I started to hit the 3-wood because I was hitting the driver really long and I was afraid of I’d drive it through the fairway and into the marsh with the wind not blowing,” he explained to reporters including Terry Bunton, the sports editor for The Island Packet of Hilton Head.
He rushed his shot as he wanted to hit it before the wind began blowing again.
“The wind totally quit, and I let up on it,” Jones went on. “I knew it was gone.”
The ball flew way right towards the condos where there were fans partying on the decks, and they relayed word back to the tee that the ball was out-of-bounds. He re-teed and put his next shot in play and then missed the green short with his fourth shot. He would have to chip-in to force a playoff.
“I hate to see somebody make double bogey and lose.”
“I was thinking that Larry Mize had done a similarly impossible thing last week,” Jones said. “Yeah, I was trying to chip it in.”
He missed the chip, and Love had won his first PGA TOUR event, through the backdoor.
“I was pulling for Steve (on the chip on the 18th),” Love told reporters. “I hate to see somebody make double bogey and lose. I wanted for one of us to win it, not one of us to lose it.”
Love won $117,000, while Jones took home $70,200. Mark Wiebe fought his way up the leaderboard, all the way to a T3 finish with a final round 67. He and Sauers each received a check for $37,700. Mark Hayes finished with a final round 73 for a total of 275, four behind Love, while Hoch was another stroke back at 276, good for a $12,187 check. Hale Irwin was also at 276 after a final round 73.
After one of the most famous shots in Masters history, the chip-in by Larry Mize to defeat Greg Norman in a playoff, the MCI Heritage kept the excitement level up—right up to the last tee shot hit by the leader. Davis Love III was in the right position to receive the gift from Jones resulting in his maiden PGA TOUR win. He would go on to win four more times in Harbour Town during his career.
Coming Next Week: Lee Trevino has bogey free tournament to run away with the 1974 Greater New Orleans Open
BONUS STORY
Mark Hayes arrived in Greensboro early in April, having missed five cuts in the young season and only had earnings of $13,000. He had been struggling with soreness in his ribs. Despite the pain, he played well in the first two rounds of the Greater Greensboro Open. He put together two straight rounds of 70, just one shot off the lead established by Danny Edwards.
“I’d been told it was either a muscle pull or a cartilage tear.”
The weather in Greensboro that week was cold and wet, which exacerbated the discomfort that Hayes felt in his ribs. Finally, he went to get checked out by the tour’s physical therapist who diagnosed either a pulled muscle or a problem with the cartilage around his ribs. He was forced to withdraw before the weekend even though he was putting up the best results of the year.
“It had been bothering me for a long time,” Hayes explained to reporters at the RBC Heritage Golf Classic in Harbour Town, SC, three weeks later. “I’d been told it was either a muscle pull or a cartilage tear. But the cold weather at Greensboro got so bad I couldn’t get the irons off the ground.”
He decided to get a second opinion and visited two separate doctors who both concurred that it was either a pulled muscle or cartilage damage. He was advised to take six weeks off from the tour. He returned home to Oklahoma City where he visited his osteopath who manipulated the area, and he “popped” a misaligned rib back into place.
He was hitting balls within an hour, and then went to Harbour Town (see main story) where he opened with a 64. He finished with a total of 275, four shots behind the winner Davis Love III, and won a $17,550.
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WHAT HOLE IS IT?
Congratulations to Alan Wrzesien, winner of the WHAT HOLE IS IT? contest. He correctly identified #12 at Augusta National, in Augusta, GA. The picture was taken in the 1950s and you can see more photos from that era HERE. Alan beat seven other correct answers in the drawing and we’ve got a gift discount code to The Tour Backspin Golf Shop coming his way. We are sending discount codes to the winners of WHAT HOLE IS IT? in 2025 so that they can choose their prize from the offerings in The Tour Backspin Golf Shop, including the Tour Backspin 19th Hole Hot Sauce. Multiple winners can combine their discount codes to use on a single order, and the codes never expire. When the code is redeemed, the prize will be sent with free shipping, so getting your prize will not cost you anything. Check out The Tour Backspin Golf Shop HERE.
The Herbert C. Leeds Trophy has been sent to the 2024 winner, Doug Posten, and we expect a picture of his victory pose soon.
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We told you about getting our hands on a treasure trove of film that we are cleaning up and digitizing for the Tony Lema documentary. Some great footage of Tony in action and even home movies. Below is a clip from the Howard Cosell Champagne on the Green interview with Tony. (clicking on link will open this post on the web, scroll down to video player).
Click on image to view on the web.
You can now support the induction of Tony Lema into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Sign the online petition HERE.
Clips I Loved
Pull up a chair at the Champions Dinner.
I have to agree with Kyle here.
You couldn’t ask for a better tour guide than Mr. Nicklaus.
Homa can’t catch a break.
I watched Freddie on Wednesday, and he was relaxed and having a blast.
This was nice.
Yeah, Johnson, take us inside this one.
How many majors would Rory have won if Poppy was putting for him?
Wild scene back in Ireland.
Rory saved these guys from this:
PGA TOUR Wrap-Up | The Masters
Wow, what a week in Augusta for the Masters. The Sunday theatrics were the best, right up there with past Masters such as in 1975, or the 1986 tournament. Rory McIlroy finally got the monkey off his back, won another major, and completed the career grand slam.
But it wasn’t easy. Starting with a two-stroke lead on Sunday, McIlroy double bogeyed the first hole to fall back into a tie with Bryson DeChambeau. A bogey at the 2nd hole put him one-stroke behind DeChambeau. He then answered with birdies at the next two holes and finished the front nine with a string of pars before adding another birdie on nine. Then, it was on to a back nine that will go down in the annals of Masters history.
A birdie on the 10th hole was followed by a bogey on the 11th and a par on the tricky 12th. Then the excitement and tension was notched up to another level. After playing safely with a layup on the par-5 13th hole, McIlroy put a sloppy swing on his wedge approach and dumped it into the water. The result was a double bogey, his fourth of the tournament. Nobody has ever won the Masters with four double bogeys.
When he added a bogey on the 14th hole, it seemed to many that he was, once again, letting a major title slip through his fingers.
Even McIlroy had his doubts saying after the round, “There were points on the back nine today when I thought, 'Have I let it slip again?’” McIlroy said. “My battle today was with myself. It wasn't with anyone else.”
But he then made his way to the 18th hole going birdie, par, birdie. A missed putt on the 18th put him into a tie with Justin Rose who had a fantastic Sunday with 10 birdies.
The two played the 18th hole in sudden-death where McIlroy hit his approach shot close, to 4-feet from the pin. Rose’s approach was a little further away, and his birdie putt just slid by the hole. McIlroy got over his short winning putt and put all of the demons and major champion nightmares of the last decade to rest by making the putt. He then fell to his knees in relief and joy.
“This is my 17th time here, and I [had] started to wonder if it would ever be my time,” McIlroy said. “What came out of me on the last green there in the playoff was at least 11 years, if not 14 years, of pent-up emotion. I got the job done.”
While McIlroy completed the career grand slam, it is now also appropriate to ask if he might win the grand slam this year. It seems the courses match his style of play so it will be fun to watch him try. Next up, the PGA Championship in May. Stay tuned.
Read more from Paolo Uggetti at ESPN HERE.
Here are the highlights of the playoff:
Tour Backspin Quiz | Masters Trivia
In 1971, a future two-time U.S. Open champion won his first title at the Sea Pines Heritage Classic. Who was it?
Scroll down for answer
Blind Shot
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Tour Backspin Music Clip
The “jorts,” the pot smoke wafting by, and the general bootleg feelings of the Grateful Dead performing live.
Tour Backspin Quiz Answer:
Hale Irwin won his first PGA TOUR title at the 1971 Sea Pines Heritage Classic.
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Final Thoughts
Rory not talking to Byrson in the final round seemed to get on Bryson’s nerves.
Both players had trouble hitting a fairway at the start of the 4th round.
I’m still blown away by the efficiency that the Lords of Augusta can conduct the tournament with that many patrons on site.
Can’t wait for the PGA Championship and see if Rory can secure the second leg of a grand slam.
If you haven’t done it yet, scroll back up to the link for the online petition to get Tony Lema inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. He’s deserving of the honor.